Daisy was surrendered by
her family who could not
afford her continued
medical care. The
problem started 2 years
ago when Daisy had an
issue with the
Anterior Cruciate
Ligament in her
left rear leg. To
save money her family
opted to have their
primary vet do her
ACL surgery
instead of going to an
orthopedic surgeon.
This is a good time to
remind people that a
second opinion is
worthwhile and, if
surgery proves to be the
only option, a board
certified specialist is
worth the expense as you
will read.
Three months after
Daisy’s FIRST surgery
was done in 2008, her
ligament began to fail
once again. The
doctor said that the
nylon sutures ripped out
of the bone, and
recommended replacing
the sutures with a screw
to help stabilize her
knee.
After the SECOND surgery
Daisy’s knee became
badly infected.
Then the vet decided
another surgery was
needed to remove the
screw.
Shortly after the THIRD
surgery the incision
opened up. A
culture of the infection
determined that Daisy
had developed a MRSA
staff infection
which is contagious and
can be deadly. She
was prescribed
antibiotics to clear the
infection but her knee
has been a problem ever
since. Poor Daisy
has been trying to cope
with this ongoing
problem for TWO YEARS
and the surgeries have
rendered her leg
useless.
When NBR received the
call recently asking for
our help the incision in
Daisy’s leg had opened
once again and she was
dealing with a bout of
pancreatitis.
Her family felt they had
no choice but to
euthanize her since they
could no longer handle
the
medical bills or
the emotional roller
coaster.
Our primary focus was to
try and save Daisy’s
leg. We took her
into rescue and made an
appointment with a well
respected orthopedic
specialist. The
doctor’s exam revealed
that the last three
surgeries left Daisy
with the inability to
use her leg.
Essentially, the repair
was too tight and would
not allow her leg to be
extended or get complete
range of motion.
This caused her
hamstrings to be
contracted and her
muscles to atrophy.
Radiographs confirmed
that there was no
cartilage left in the
knee. It was bone
scraping on bone which
is very painful.
The joint also showed
severe
osteoarthritis.
The orthopedic surgeon
felt that there were
some possible options
they could try to save
Daisy’s leg, but none of
them were an easy fix or
a certainty. If
the doctors were to
attempt to do a repair
it would require staged
surgical intervention;
basically multiple
surgeries.
The first step (which
would be Daisy’s FOURTH
surgery) would be to
remove all of the
implants that were in
the knee, do an
arthroscopic procedure
to clean her joint, and
pack her joint with an
antibiotic gel.
They would also take a
culture of the
infection.
This would leave Daisy’s
joint completely
unstable and she would
have to have a casting
(and be fitted ) for a
custom stifle brace
which would only be
removed at night.
She would also require
extensive
rehabilitation.
Once the doctor’s felt
everything was under
control (no infection,
healed bone etc) they
would attempt to do a
TPLO (Tibial Plateau
Leveling
Osteotomy) which
would be Daisy’s FIFTH
surgery.
However….they would not
know if the TPLO was
even a possibility until
her knee was opened up.
Should the TPLO not be
an option, the next step
would be a total
knee replacement.
The doctor said he would
fly a specialist in from
Texas to perform
surgery. Even if
surgery was successful,
Daisy would require many
months of intensive
physical therapy.
Daisy has suffered for
two years after three
unsuccessful surgeries.
We did a lot of
research, spoke to
numerous medical
professionals, and
debated long and hard
whether to subject her
to two or three
additional surgeries
plus months of grueling
rehabilitation or simply
remove her leg.
The doctor did another
culture of her leg which
came back as positive
once again for MRSA.
We decided to call the
specialist in Texas to
get his opinion and then
the decision became
clear.
We were told that the
chances of surgery being
a success was minimal at
best due to the ongoing
MRSA infection,
and that he doubted he
would agree to do the
surgery given Daisy‘s
circumstances. The
consensus was that the
best solution for Daisy
would be to amputate her
leg.
Daisy has been in a
foster home and is an
incredibly wonderful
sweet girl. She
gets along with two
small dogs who live with
her, and is sweet and
loving. Daisy
needs to turn the page
to a new chapter in her
life without any pain.
Surgery will be
scheduled after tests to
make sure she is healthy
enough to undergo the
procedure. We will
have another update as
soon as we hear more.
Please keep Daisy in
your thoughts and
prayers.
